Tufts University Announces Bluetech Innovation Day

Key players driving change and innovation in bluetech unite to discuss the cutting-edge research and innovations shaping the future of the world’s oceans

Medford & Somerville, MA – June 8, 2023 – Tufts University, a leader in research and innovation, recently announced its inaugural Bluetech Innovation Day. The event, which is being held in collaboration with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), SeaAhead, and Branchfood, is set to take place on June 15, 2023 at Tufts University’s Joyce Cummings Center. The event will bring together leaders and startups in the bluetech community to spotlight the research and innovations shaping the future of the world’s oceans. Key topics to be explored during the event will include applications of artificial intelligence to marine aquaculture, offshore wind power and infrastructure, innovations in underwater imaging, climate change mitigation, and more.

Convening for the first time, leaders of the bluetech community will also discuss the policies affecting the industry, and provide insights into the investment trends powering the blue economy. Tufts University is ideally positioned to bring together bluetech industry experts, harnessing the innovative power of the Tufts community to support research and education in a highly collaborative environment. Between its School of Engineering, The Fletcher School, and the University’s renowned expertise in environmental biology, climate change, materials science, and alternative systems for food and energy production, Tufts has access to a host of resources that are coming together to advance the blue economy. The University is also one of the leading institutions in offshore wind energy, offering advanced degrees on the subject.

“Tufts is committed to working with other institutions, startups, industry investors and accelerators to usher in a new era in the ocean economy and support workforce development,” said Caroline Genco, university provost and senior vice president ad interim. “Together we can develop technologies that help us steward and protect the ocean, as well as sustainably harvest the bounty of energy, food and commerce that it can provide.”

Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao will deliver the event keynote, discussing why Massachusetts is uniquely suited to support bluetech innovations. In addition to Secretary Hao’s keynote, the event will feature other industry-leading speakers and bluetech startups, including:

• Eric Hines, professor of the practice and Kentaro Tsutsumi Faculty Fellow in civil and environmental engineering at Tufts, who will moderate a panel about the role of the Ocean Test Bed, the collection of large datasets on the oceanographic and biological environment, as well as on technology performance to help optimize blue technologies.
• Karen Panetta, dean of graduate engineering education at Tufts University, an innovator in the use of artificial intelligence to optimize aquaculture and monitor ocean health, and inventor of novel underwater search, rescue, and inspection technologies.
• Carolyn Kirk, executive director of MassTech, a state economic development agency whose mission is to strengthen the tech and innovation economy across a variety of industries, including bluetech and marine tech, who will moderate a panel featuring several Massachusetts bluetech projects supported by investments from the state.
• Anthony Kirincich, associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and lead scientist of the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education.
• Bob Chen, dean of the University of Massachusetts Boston School of the Environment and expert on the oceanographic environment.
• Steve Lohrenz, professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and leading researcher on the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle — the emission and sequestering of greenhouse gasses.
• Eric Osherow, CEO and founder of SeaDeep, which is developing a new generation of vision technology to accurately assess undersea environments and structures in real-time, autonomously, aided by artificial intelligence.

Other speakers include Monica Jain, founder of Fish 2.0 Ventures, a global accelerator of seafood technologies; Rockford Weitz, professor of practice, director of the Maritime Studies Program at The Fletcher School at Tufts University; Alissa Peterson, co-founder and executive director of SeaAhead, a bluetech innovation platform that catalyzes new ventures and solutions for ocean health and sustainable ocean industries; and Marcia Hooper, co-founder of Branch Venture Group, an investor in food technologies.

“We are honored to provide the meeting ground for experts in blue technology and are hopeful that the sharing of ideas will lead to inspiration, invention and action,” said Hines.    

The full event schedule can be found here. If you are a member of the media interested in attending, contact Payton St. Lawrence at tufts@bigfishpr.com; otherwise please reach out to innovation@tufts.edu.

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